ESPN’s hyper-active Twitter site was turned into a battleground yesterday when it was taken over by fans who objected to the sports channel devoting airtime to the Boston Marathon bombings.

“ESPN needs to stop trying to be CNN! I get what happened was horrible but your a SPORTS broadcasting network,” tweeted Brian Spaulding ”(@bspauld6) at about midday.

“ESPN is a sports network, not a news network, go back to doing what you do best, kissing Miami’s ass [meaning the league-leading Miami Heat NBA team] and drumming up drama,” tweeted another frustrated fan named Rob ”(@robertlynch1985).

It was an unusual outpouring of anger — sometimes in blunt language — from scores of fans who complained they had turned to the sports channel to get away from news of the bombings.

“I didn’t know @espn turned into @CNN, Stop watching the mainstream news people. Get your news off of twitter,” cried a fan identified on Twitter only as @itnasty51.

Then, a short while later, something unusual happened.

A new sentiment began to sweep over the ESPN Web site at about 2 p.m. when the network itself tweeted the message: “In difficult times, all fans root for the same team. Go Boston.”

It appeared the tweet was in direct response to the swelling tide of criticism on its social media site — and it worked.

Within an hour, the positive message had been re-tweeted by more than 6,600 followers, flooding the ESPN site.

“This event directly intersected with what we are about — sports and fans,” an ESPN said in a prepared statement.

“To not acknowledge it would have been disrespectful.

“The vast majority of fans have shown their support and have responded favorably.”